RP: The War of Planetary Freedom
Rules You put your sig on your post, you don't alter a post. Are we clear? Crystal? Good. The Players *Vernon playing the role of Janus Stimul *Dan playing the role of Jason Cruise ACT 1: Interlude to shellshock Part 1: Janus get your gun Janus slung his rifle across his back, and trudged through the marsh, ducking under and climbing over the trees that twisted through the pathway. He scanned the wood, but there wasn't anything. Not even a sound. He scanned the sky above him for a a sign, but all he could see was the brooding red glowing with the setting sun. A buzz sounded, and he grabbed the communicator on his shoulder. "This is Janus, all is clear in Carnutia. Forests are ghost. What did you need? Over." Donavan's voice came out. "Smugglers should be dropping in soon, and the transports aren't due again for a while. You should head back to base. Over." "Loud and clear. Over and out." Part 2 The entire Shelter was bustling with merchants and pirates tonight. There had already been two shootings and around six fist fights that had broken out amongst the selfish and drunken Smugglers, "Make that seven..." Thought Cruise, as a man in a sleeveless leather vest was thrown over the bar, much to the bartender's disgruntlement. Soon enough, the entire place had broken out into a royal rumble, and Jason decided it was about time form him to head down to Stimul's Landing and make his monthly profit. He handed fifty credits to the bartender, gulped down the last of his drink, grabbed his long coat, and made for the hallway outside. He made his way through the extremely crowded market place, socking a few people for trying to pickpocket him, and soon reached the airlock that led to the ship docks. He slipped on his his jacket, fastened on a breathing apparatus, and stepped into the airlock. The hiss of escaping air sounded, and sudden coldness washed over his body as the second set of airlock doors opened, and he stepped out onto the landing pad. A large assortment of refurbished, and stolen, UMFE space vessels sat motionless on the docks, waiting for their pilots to return to them. One silver-colored, Light Interceptor didn't have to wait for much longer. He activated his Wrist Mounted Computer Display (WMCD), lowered the gangway that opened up from the Interceptors belly, and stepped into the Silver Fang's airlock. Within a minute, the Interceptor lifted off the dock, turned towards the large, dark cavern known as Ship-Wreck Grotto, and made its way away from Smuggler's Shelter. He got through the treacherous maze of stalactites and stalagmites in about fifteen minutes, and kicked the Silver Fang up to full speed as one of the main entrances to the cavern sat wide open before him. Deimos seemed to shrink as he flew towards the surface of Mars, the entire ship shaking as it entered the atmosphere. He pulled up just before he hit the ground, and flew over the Swampy surface with only a few meters between the Silver Fang and a fiery death. Stimul's Landing rose up from behind the horizon, growing larger as the Interceptor sailed closer and closer towards it. When he was sure that someone had detected his approach he began to radio in, "Stimul's Landing this is Jason Cruise coming in for landing. Repeat: This is Seraph, do not engage." Part 3 Janus choked down on the handle and let the back of his craft swing backwards. The dust parted ways behind him as he made his way towards Stimul's Landing. Marsh splashed beneath the press of the anti-grav units as he approached the town. The scream of engines fouled the air. Janus looked up as the Silver Fang made it's decent towards the hangar. Janus turned towards the hangar, and kicked the throttle down a little harder. He met the hangar quickly and slid into some empty space, jumping off. A familiar voice echoed behind him. "Show off!" Part 4 Jason smiled at Janus as he strolled up to him, twin duffel bags hanging from his shoulder and hand. "Says the pilot who comes barreling into the hanger at speeds well over Mach 4," The rebel snapped, "True... true..." Jason replied, "Anyway, I'm glad you're here. I wouldn't trust anyone else with the task of helping me haul this stuff up to your father," He continued, pushing one of the bags into Janus' arms, "So what kind of junk did you bring us today? More scorched motherboards from UMFE Ship-board computers?" Janus asked, slinging the bag over his shoulder and leading the way out of the hanger. "Hey, I worked real hard to bring you those motherboards! The Fang didn't come with its own vacuum resistant space-suits you know!" Jason replied, matter-of-factly, "Anyway, what I brought today are a few UMFE Rifles and Sidearms that have yet to receive their DNA Fail-safes. Figured you or your old man could try to replicate them for the Rebel's use." Part 5 Janus adjusted the bags of equipment. "Dad never has much time to his tinkering anymore, but I'm thrilled." He waited until the two of them were laden down with four bags each. They walked past the sparks of the welder's flash, through the haze of the man-made heat, towards a large desk where a man wizened through the years sat, his feet perched up high, tossing a small ball what resembled the Earth in his hands. He noticed their presence, and stood up to greet them, throwing the ball behind him. "Ah, Jason, what lovely things have you brought for us this evening? More scorched motherboards from UMFE Ship-board computers?" Janus giggled a little bit as Jason hung his head. Part 6 "You and your son are so much alike that it's scary, Ether," Jason smiled, dropping the bags of equipment down on the circular table in the middle of the room and pulling something out of one, "What I brought you today are a multitude of UMFE Rifles, Sidearms, and even one of their troublesome Surface-to-Air Rocket Launchers," He tossed the magnum to Janus who quickly identified it as an MCDS .45. "Best of all, none of them have had their DNA Locks filled out yet, so at the moment anyone can use them," Jason continued, retrieving the Launcher and shouldering it, "Whatever trouble I went through to get those motherboards, I went through double to get these. Along with the majority of my wealth," He smiled at Janus fiddling with the sidearm, and at Ether's look of pleasure as he gazed upon the weapons. Now was the moment that every Smuggler could both love and hate: Bartering Time, "So... how much are you offering? I spent about 250,000 Credits on this baby alone," He patted the launcher with his free hand, "So I could only guess at how much the fifteen Rifles and twenty-five sidearms total up to," Part 7 Ether pulled a large ream of jumbled papers from his desk. "You always drive a hard bargain, but you understand my only weakness." He thumbed through the papers, running his fingers down the rows of numbers. "Alright, the guns can always find their usefulness for spare parts, but as of right now there isn't a man down here that doesn't at least have a Pulse gun to his name," he scratched his head, "I think 600,000 should be good enough to cover it. Hell, your precious Fang cost almost that much... Stock." Janus giggled a little at his father's humor, but Jason seemed a little bemused. "Why does it always have to be jokes? Come on Ether, a guy has to drink." Ether reached into a vaulted safe beneath his desk and pulled out a case, setting it down and revealing stacks of the little plastic cards. "Alright, alright, 850,000, but that's my final offer." Jason grinned at his new-found cash. "Guess it's almost time to settle down and find a couple of good wenches." Janus piped in, "yeah, if you can find a couple out of the ones around here that would let you stick your dick in. Then again, single women are hard to find... One's that don't want your money anyways." Jason clasped his hand on Janus' shoulder. "Who said I needed someone faithful" The three men shared a good laugh. Men and their private conversations. The fun didn't last long. The sound of a thousand sirens filled the air, and the alarm lights flashed, making everything seem to slow down. Janus ran throught the strobes, pulling the MCDS out of his pocket. He took the safety off, and it pinched him unexpectedly. He let out a yell, drowned out by the alarms. "What is going on?" Jason was practicalling yelling to get Ether to hear. "Something wrong on Luna." Ether turned back to his desk and pulled his mic closer, donning headphones. "Come in Himus! What's going on?" After a few minutes, he slammed the headset on the desk and looked back up as Jason without a word. Flipping a few switches, the sirens went away, replaced by a hum from the PA system. "This is Ether Stimul. Today the Lunar rebel's base was found on the Moon, and The Federation has taken things a step further. Their leader is holed out in the sewers of Luna, but most of the rebelion is going on right now, in the streets. People are dying, and we have been sent an SOS. I need Alpha units one and seven to report to the hanger in Stimul's landing ASAP! Boys, you are going to war." Part 8 Jason sighed as he drew his Custom Revolver from its holster and made his way to the Hanger with Janus. "Damn... I'm both thankful and pissed off that this is happening," He stated, checking to make sure the sidearm was fully loaded, "And why's that?" Janus asked, turning sharply down the corridor, "I'm thankful because it was really starting to get borring around here, especialy this time of the year... then again, I'm pissed off that I'm going to have to take part in this battle," Jason fumed, forcefully stowing his weapon back in its holster, "I'm a Smuggler not a Rebel damn it!" "Ah suck it up, Cruise," Janus laughed, "You're the best Pilot on Wargod, so your skill will be esential in the coming battle," "Oh give me a break... you're just saying that cause you've always loved riding shotgun in the Fang!" "Maybe..." Janus smiled, and Jason couldn't help but smile back. Part 9 As the pair made their way back to the Fang, they were greeted by Donavan O'Duherst and five other men, all toting heavy weapons. Donavan spoke first. "We have orders to go head to Luna's Landing, and I figured you two would be together. You giving us a ride then Jason?" Jason shrugged, "I guess I am. We will have to figure out how to drop on the way." "No need," Donavan said, patting the Fang with his free hand, "We have some drop pods that could load pretty quickly." "Great," Jason said, rolling his eyes. Janus patted his friend on the back, "Hey, you know how much you love flying through restricted airspace." "Yeah, getting shot at from the ground is the best." As the soldiers loaded the drop pods through the hatch, Jason grinned.